Dave, theOffice originally did begin with Open thou our lips–your instincts are entirely right. Thatr’s the way it appears in the 1549 office. However, the 1552 revision was heavily Calvinist and was concerned that people were not properly aware of and forgiven of their sins. Lest they offer prayer to God with impure lips, the 1552 book placed an ante-office consisting of the exhortation/general confession/absolution before the start of the office proper. All of the suceeding books have followed the 1552 pattern. In some of the recent American ones, though, the confession bit has become optional. It is typically not said in Easter or Christmas, on Saints’ days or when mass is to follow (either immediately after or at noon).

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St. Bede Productions is an exploration of Christian liturgical spirituality with an emphasis on early medieval, Benedictine, Sarum, Anglican, and Episcopal perspectives. Daily Office, Episcopal Morning and Evening Prayer, the St. Bede’s Breviary—all that stuff! A church open to the future must be grounded in how the Spirit has moved in the past.